Sunday, March 25, 1984

1) EROTIC CITY [listed as ELECTRIC CITY] (basic tracking)

• Sunset Sound, Studio 3 | 5 p.m.-10:30 p.m. (Lock-out)

Producer: Prince | Artist: Prince | Engineer: Prince | Assistant Engineer: Peggy McCreary

“One time [George Clinton] sent me a tape and says, ‘You pee on it and send it back to me and I’ll pee on it, and then we’ll see what we got! I went to see him at the Beverly Theatre and it was frightening*. Fourteen people singing ‘Knee Deep’ in unison. That night I went to the studio and recorded ‘Erotic City.’”

Prince

I think it should be noted how this is another example of Prince revisited the idea of ‘the dawn’ and he also borrowed a phrase from Apollonia 6’s Sex Shooter (changing “come on boy, let’s make some time” to “maybe we can make some time”).

---

According to P-Funk trombonist (and eventual Prince band member) Greg Boyer (as posted on Housequake.com on February 28, 2004) “We met briefly at a P-funk concert in ’83. It was the night we recorded “P-funk live at the Beverly Theatre.” [ed: The concerts were recorded on April 23 & 24, 1983]. He came to check us out a few times over the years, and a couple of times also when I was playing with Maceo.” Because this concert took place a year before ‘Erotic City’ was recorded, it is likely that either Greg or Prince were incorrect about the date, or Prince has embellished the story.

I first started falling in love with Prince when I was about 7 or 8 (early-mid 80s). My older, lesbian cousin took notice of my admiration. She was the coolest person in the family - very Joan Jett, but blonde. She would tell me how much she loved the song by him called, "Creamy Thighs." She would also tell me about how packed the dance floor got when it was played at the gay club she went to. Her story fascinated me. I could never find the song she was talking about until a few years later when I learned that it was called Erotic City - I had to oder the vinyl from Record Bar.

Awesome track.

I always loved that song. It just makes you wanna jump out of your seat and dance! It's funky!

.

I read that the lyrics originally said "we can f*ck until the dawn", and Sheila was not too happy about it, so they changed it to "funk", LOL

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There was a YT video of Prince & The Revolution playing "Erotic City" in a basement rehearsal, back in '84, and I can't seem to find it. It must have been taken down.

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[Edited 12/14/16 14:47pm]

mechanicalemotion17 said:

mechanicalemotion17 said:

I remember being a kid at the time of this song's release. When I asked my grandmother what she wanted fir Christmas, she told me to get her "that Erotic City record by Prince". Yes...even grandma couldn't resist a little freak

.

Ha-ha-ha!! Go Grandma!!

cloveringold85 said:

mechanicalemotion17 said:

I remember being a kid at the time of this song's release. When I asked my grandmother what she wanted fir Christmas, she told me to get her "that Erotic City record by Prince". Yes...even grandma couldn't resist a little freak

.

Ha-ha-ha!! Go Grandma!!

What a grandma, yes.

mechanicalemotion17 said:

I remember being a kid at the time of this song's release. When I asked my grandmother what she wanted fir Christmas, she told me to get her "that Erotic City record by Prince". Yes...even grandma couldn't resist a little freak

Your grandma sounds awesome!

SoEas42 said:

This is one of my favorite Prince songs. It's so sexy and funky. I remember hearing it on the radio a lot back then. I think I was in 6th grade back then. One of my classmates brought the record to school and we were all dancing. The teacher didn't even mind. Fun times. About a month after Prince passed, I went to a party and they played a lot of his songs. As soon as Erotic City came on, everybody hit the dancefloor. It's definitely a Prince classic.

.

Another song I thought was really funky & sexy was "Sexy Dancer". The way he moans and breathes......oh my!!

mechanicalemotion17 said:

This song is beyond pure sex....but more like a Dyonesian trance where the listener finds himself helplessly transported to a midsummer's night dream type of world where muses and night blue fairies sprinkle sparkley lavender scented dust that makes you ooze into a red-molten sexual substance. A world where upon once you set foot your life can never be quite the same.

Beautifully put!

I remember one of the first times I heard it at home. My headphones had come halfway unplugged. For some reason, that made all the stuff underneath the mix come out. I almost jumped through the roof when I heard Prince's deep voice say, "You're so....creamy".

THAT was when I realized Prince did stuff in his songs that no one else did. And by that I mean "multi-layered funk".

DarlingKris said:

SoEas42 said:

This IS my favourite Prince song of all time - big call but this is the one that set off a lifetime of love for this incredible musician. Erotic City literally blew my mind when I, 16yrs old, played this off the Lets Go Crazy 12 inch vinyl. I coudnt believe the sounds of the track - like DJ Quick recently said about it "it was a slick ass record" and it still sounds perfect today. This is the work of a young, daring genius.

Sydney said:

Sydney said:

I was more of a fan of this song when it came out in '84.

I remember it being popular in "dance clubs" & it typically would fill the floor.

I really misheard the lyrics back then - I especially thought the chorus was :

.

"if we cannot make believe

maybe we some time

thoughts of pretty u and me

Erotic City come alive.."

.

like many people, at 1st I couldn't tell if Prince was singing "funk" or "fuck"

(until the dawn)..

but then I simply figured that because it was Prince

who did used to cuss like a sailor back in those days

(I miss that "old Prince)

I just presumed he was saying "fuck until the dawn"..

most radio stations then probably presumed the same thing

as they typically "beeped out" or "erased" that line from the rest of the song

.

by about the 90s I didn't like the song as much.

I make no effort to play it & if I hear it on a radio

I wouldn't dance to it.

mltijchr said:

I was more of a fan of this song when it came out in '84.

I remember it being popular in "dance clubs" & it typically would fill the floor.

I really misheard the lyrics back then - I especially thought the chorus was :

.

"if we cannot make believe

maybe we some time

thoughts of pretty u and me

Erotic City come alive.."

.

like many people, at 1st I couldn't tell if Prince was singing "funk" or "fuck"

(until the dawn)..

but then I simply figured that because it was Prince

who did used to cuss like a sailor back in those days

(I miss that "old Prince)

I just presumed he was saying "fuck until the dawn"..

most radio stations then probably presumed the same thing

as they typically "beeped out" or "erased" that line from the rest of the song

.

by about the 90s I didn't like the song as much.

I make no effort to play it & if I hear it on a radio

I wouldn't dance to it.

.

Yes, Sheila E. said that originally the lyrics were "we can f_ck until the dawn", and Sheila did not want to sing that, so they changed it to "Funk until the dawn."

I was 12 years old trippin' off PR. Heard about some other P tracks that were better than anything on PR. Didn't believe. One day I was in some small freakshow tent at the WV state fair, summer of '85. Suddenly, on the carny-rigged system inside the tent, emanated a bizarre whammy effect followed by the funkiest bassline I'd ever heard (probably still is). I remember it was about 100 degrees and I was just stopped in my tracks.

"Has to be him."

"It's one of those mysterious jams I haven't heard yet, badder than any of the album tracks," ran through my mind.

Track literally dazed me it sounded so good. Remember, I was knee deep into P after rocking 1999 for a good year and then the glorious PR.

Didn't find out until much, much later that was the immortal, secretive Erotic City I heard that day.

cloveringold85 said:

mltijchr said:

I was more of a fan of this song when it came out in '84.

I remember it being popular in "dance clubs" & it typically would fill the floor.

I really misheard the lyrics back then - I especially thought the chorus was :

.

"if we cannot make believe

maybe we some time

thoughts of pretty u and me

Erotic City come alive.."

.

like many people, at 1st I couldn't tell if Prince was singing "funk" or "fuck"

(until the dawn)..

but then I simply figured that because it was Prince

who did used to cuss like a sailor back in those days

(I miss that "old Prince)

I just presumed he was saying "fuck until the dawn"..

most radio stations then probably presumed the same thing

as they typically "beeped out" or "erased" that line from the rest of the song

.

by about the 90s I didn't like the song as much.

I make no effort to play it & if I hear it on a radio

I wouldn't dance to it.

.

Yes, Sheila E. said that originally the lyrics were "we can f_ck until the dawn", and Sheila did not want to sing that, so they changed it to "Funk until the dawn."

Yup, SheilaE said it in an article and in a TV interveiw.

I used to play my vinyl of this when it first came out...LOUD...on repeat.

My neighbors must've loved that but they never once complained.

It was also a great beat for aerobics/step class I took back then, too.

They played it on the radio all the time where I lived.

digitalelectric said:

loveandkindness said:

partyup77 said:

NorthC said:

as I recall Erotic City was inspired by the hit song White Horse by the danish duo Laid Back....


http://prince.org/msg/7/374257


^ Erotic City vs White Horse discussed here.

Are you guys aware that Laid Back, the duo behind White Horse are danish?

The 2 guys made a hit called Sunshine Reggae with the b-side White Horse.

White Horse never became a hit in Denmark or the rest of Europe, like Sunshine Reggae did.

But am american radio station flipped the single and White Horse got a lot of airplay.

The single was released and White Horse became their biggest hit over there.

The story is a little longer, the dansih devision of their record company said to the 2 guys who both are white: "Don't go and show your faces in America, cuz everyone thinks you are some cool black guys over there, they will just get disappointed.."

So afaik Laid Back never went to America to make any promotion, reason everyone thought they were black.

Laid Back had several hits in Denmark, the latest being "Baker Man", a song from the early 1990's, the music video is made by famous movie director Lars Von Trier who is danish also.

I love White Horse, but I don't hear the song in Erotic City, 2 different songs, imo...

from the danish WikiPedia: http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laid_Back

White Horse blev et stort klubhit i USA og er betragtet som en ret stilskabende danseklassiker.

"Selv hitmageren Prince lister dette nummer som ét af hans absolutte favoritnumre fra andre kunstnere."

Translation:

White Horse became a big clubhit in the USA and is considered a trendsetting dance classic.

"Even the hitmaker Prince is listing this track as one of his absolutely favorite tracks from other artists".

^ however there's no source to back this up.

thedance said: